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Excerpts from criticism of the works of novelists, poets, playwrights, and other creative writers, 1900-1960.

Work at a funeral home can be mundane. Until you accidentally start bringing the dead back to life. "...a clever, hilarious romp through a new magical universe" --Sarah Angleton, author of Gentleman of Misfortune Cassie Black works at a funeral home. She's used to all manner of dead bodies. What she's not used to is them waking up. Which they seem to be doing on a disturbingly regular basis lately. Just when Cassie thinks she has the problem under control, the recently deceased Busby Tenpenny insists he's been murdered and claims Cassie might be responsible thanks to a wicked brand of magic she's been exposed to. The only way for Cassie to get her life back to normal is to tame her magic and uncover Mr. Tenpenny's true killer. Simple right? Of course not. Because while Cassie works on getting her newly acquired magic sorted, she's blowing up kitchens, angering an entire magical community, and discovering her past is more closely tied to Busby Tenpenny than she could have ever imagined. If you like comic fantasy whodunits with plenty of wry humor, a cast of unforgettable characters, a touch of paranormal mystery, and piles of pastries, you'll find it hard to pry yourself away from this first book of the Cassie Black Trilogy. Note: While this book delivers a contemporary fantasy tale with snarky giggles and a few hexes, it's fairly clean with only an itty-bitty bit of light cursing, one fight scene, and no hanky panky or sexual situations. The Cassie Black “Trilogy” has now grown to a very un-trilogy-like six books that include… * The Undead Mr. Tenpenny (#1 of The Cassie Black Trilogy 1.0) * The Uncanny Raven Winston (#2 of The Cassie Black Trilogy 1.0) * The Untangled Cassie Black (#3 of The Cassie Black Trilogy 1.0) * The Unusual Mayor Marheart (#1 of The Cassie Black Trilogy 2.0) * The Unbearable Inspector Oberlin (#2 of The Cassie Black Trilogy 2.0) * The Unexpected Mr Hopkins (#3 of The Cassie Black Trilogy 2.0) What readers have to say about the series so far... "Wow and wow again! I absolutely loved this book! You get such a feel for the characters and the story is so fast paced you don't want to put it down." "More, please!" "I was unable to put this down when I started reading it. The author combines humour with a fast paced murder mystery all packed into a funeral home." "…suffused with dark humor and witty dialogue..." "Cassie Black, won me over in the first book of this series, and she doesn’t disappoint in this one!!!"

This volume collects inverviews with Theodore Sturgeon, Alfred Bester, Frederick Pohl, James Gunn, Fritz Leiber, Hal Clement, and L. Sprague de Camp.

It’s summer 1968, and the world is reeling from war and assassinations, protests and riots. In a sunny British seaside town, a producer, a novelist, and an actress are enduring their own more private crises on the set of a disaster-plagued movie. All are leading secret lives—one is in the closet; another is an alcoholic; and the third is sleeping with her costar—and as the shoot zigs and zags, these layers of secrets become increasingly more untenable. Pressures build inexorably—and that’s before the FBI and CIA get involved. Someone is going to crack—or maybe they all will. By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Trio is an enthralling novel that asks the vital questions: What makes life worth living? And what do you do if you find it isn’t?

"Joss Whedon...can’t possibly write All The Things That Are Kind Of Like This. So hallelujah that Edgar Cantero – a Barcelona native whose first language is Spanish, but who spits pop-culture in English like the savviest geek in, say, Sheboygan posting on Tumblr – is writing some of them.”--The Austin Chronicle From the New York Times bestselling author of Meddling Kids comes a mind-blowing, gender-bending, genre-smashing romp through the entire pantheon of action and noir. It is also a bold, tautly crafted novel about family, being weird, and claiming your place in your own crazy story. In a dingy office in Fisherman's Wharf, the glass panel in the door bears the names of A. Kimrean and Z. Kimrean. Private Eyes. Behind the door there is only one desk, one chair, one scrawny androgynous P.I. in a tank top and skimpy waistcoat. A.Z., as they are collectively known, are twin brother and sister. He's pure misanthropic logic, she's wild hedonistic creativity. The Kimreans have been locked in mortal battle since they were in utero...which is tricky because they, very literally, share one single body. That's right. One body, two pilots. The mystery and absurdity of how Kimrean functions, and how they subvert every plotline, twist, explosion, and gunshot--and confuse every cop, neckless thug, cartel boss, ninja, and femme fatale--in the book is pure Cantero magic. Someone is murdering the sons of the ruthless drug cartel boss known as the Lyon in the biggest baddest town in California--San Carnal. The notorious A.Z. Kimrean must go to the sin-soaked, palm-tree-lined streets of San Carnal, infiltrate the Lyon's inner circle, and find out who is targeting his heirs, and while they are at it, rescue an undercover cop in too deep, deal with a plucky young stowaway, and stop a major gang war from engulfing California. They'll face every plot device and break every rule Elmore Leonard wrote before they can crack the case, if they don't kill each other (themselves) first. This Body's Not Big Enough for Both of Us is a brilliantly subversive and comic thriller celebrating noir detectives, Die Hard, Fast & Furious, and the worst case of sibling rivalry, that can only come from the mind of Edgar Cantero.

An alphabetical listing and description of authors, works, literary types and terms, mythological figures, and literary periods and movements from all over the world.

Collections of interviews with notable modern writers

A #1 Blackboard Bestseller Voted as one of the top ten books of the year by the Los Angeles Times Alice Andrews is a Newark-bred newspaper reporter living the single girl life in Manhattan, while trying to forget the smooth-talking investment banker she thought was Mr. Right. When she meets Jack Russworm, a handsome, third generation Harvard-educated doctor, it seems as though things are finally falling into place. Their romance builds beautifully, but as the relationship gets serious, their divergent upbringings start to the surface. Will they move beyond or get trapped by the expectations of their different worlds. A delicious, eye-opening look at the world of upper class Black Manhattanites.

Now a Major Motion Picture Starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges, directed by Azazael Jacobs A Recommended Read from: Vanity Fair * Entertainment Weekly * Vulture * The Millions * Publishers Weekly * Esquire From bestselling author Patrick deWitt, a brilliant and darkly comic novel about a wealthy widow and her adult son who flee New York for Paris in the wake of scandal and financial disintegration. Frances Price – tart widow, possessive mother, and Upper East Side force of nature – is in dire straits, beset by scandal and impending bankruptcy. Her adult son Malcolm is no help, mired in a permanent state of arrested development. And then there’s the Price’s aging cat, Small Frank, who Frances believes houses the spirit of her late husband, an infamously immoral litigator and world-class cad whose gruesome tabloid death rendered Frances and Malcolm social outcasts. Putting penury and pariahdom behind them, the family decides to cut their losses and head for the exit. One ocean voyage later, the curious trio land in their beloved Paris, the City of Light serving as a backdrop not for love or romance, but self destruction and economical ruin – to riotous effect. A number of singular characters serve to round out the cast: a bashful private investigator, an aimless psychic proposing a seance, and a doctor who makes house calls with his wine merchant in tow, to name a few. Brimming with pathos, French Exit is a one-of-a-kind 'tragedy of manners,' a send-up of high society, as well as a moving mother/son caper which only Patrick deWitt could conceive and execute.

Tommy is your average boy. Except for one little difference. Tommy’s parents like to sexually abuse him. That’s putting it mildly. Every day it seems he is getting punished for something or other. Childhood is no fun, it’s filled with hard labor, screaming, threats and violence. He is in constant fear for his life. Why? The end of the world and the rise of the Antichrist seems all too imminent. School? Please. We’ll all be dead by then, sitting at the right hand of the throne of God. If Tommy openly doubts the cult’s beliefs, the wrath of God is meted upon him swiftly without mercy. It’s no wonder, Tommy’s parents are members of the notorious Children of God. A cult that openly embraces sex with children, public floggings of children, speech restriction, denial of food, water, and basic human rights. Guantanamo bay could learn a thing or two from these fuckers. These crimes against humanity are committed in the name of love and the name of God. At the age of thirteen, Tommy has just about had enough one day. He momentarily even succeeds to escape the cult commune. Sadly reality kicks in very quickly, and Tommy is forced to go back home. His parents have had enough. They confine him to a dark room for months. He's not allowed to speak to his siblings or other children. Even leaving the room to go toilet is out of the question. One day his parents come for him and he is whisked away in the dead of night. They also inform him that he has been officially excommunicated. Finally, after months of travelling to and from hotels, relatives and other "systemites", Tommy's parents give up trying to rehabilitate him. The grandparents reluctantly agree to pay to put him into a boarding school. Until that moment, Tommy's never watched TV, heard pop music or even eaten a bar of chocolate. He will not see his siblings again for many, many years but that’s for another story. The other kids in the boarding school can’t make sense of this new, weird and broke kid who can’t speak German. He talks with an American accent yet claims to be a German citizen. Unsurprisingly, he is beaten up and bullied. It seems like life in the cult might have been the better option after all. Ostracized and desperate to fit in he turns to drug dealing to make ends meet. In the months that follow he must very rapidly grow up, become fearless and fight back against insurmountable odds. Not even a year after his arrival, he witnesses a girl he deeply cares for being raped. He flings open his trusted butterfly knife, and rushes to save her, killing the assailant in the process. There’s just one problem. The man he murdered was a very dangerous gang leader. If anyone finds out who murdered him, Tommy will no doubt face torture and execution. There is no turning back, no one he can run to now. He needs to leave everything behind, all over again. At night, the monsters of the past come to haunt Tommy in his dreams. His memories of the past are all too painful to bear, yet he finds it impossible to ignore them. The solution is easy. Alcohol, marijuana and ecstasy. They may dampen the pain temporarily, but in the long run, they are as effective as a Band-Aid on a freshly severed limb. It seems at times the only way out of this misery is death. That’s not like Tommy though. That’s too easy, in his mind that’s a coward’s solution. While on the run, Tommy meets a girl who lives by herself. She agrees to provide him with accommodation. One night, Angela opens up to him. She tells Tommy of all the atrocities done to her by her very own father. After a decade of abuse, she finally mustered up the courage to speak out. Her abuser was immediately arrested. 5 years later her father has served his time. There is no question in Angela's mind that he will seek revenge. Lucky for Angela, Tommy is far more dangerous than he looks. He’s not a scared little boy, and more importantly, this time, he’s got a gun.